July 28, 1887.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



11 



horses as they galloped past, and gvey hounds at play, as well 

 aa owned some very active mastiffs and fast fighters, and the 

 trial the five were subjected to I trust will set the matter of 

 abi lity to move at rest, What with the amount of flesh they 

 carried, and want of sharper regular exercise, not one would 

 have been fast enough to nave stood any chance with a bear, 

 Still, 'Caius' mentions the slowness of the mastiff owing to" 

 their cumbersome bodies,- and I could detect no amount of 

 leg weakness among the prize winners (Hotspur losing place 

 through this fault partly); and altogether they were superior 

 in hocks to many of the larger deerhdunds. In conclusion, 

 a certain lack of' size among the winners was the chief de- 

 fect, but I felt good little ones should ever beat indifferent 

 larger ones, and seeing the disproportionate, untypical, ill- 

 gaited animals the rage for size some time since produced, 

 breeders cannot do wiser than bear in mind the warning of 

 the late J. W. Thompson, recorded in page 188 of 'The His- 

 tory of the Mastiff,' for judges are sure to insist on charac- 

 ter and symmetry combined, if they are judges, having bred 

 good one's themselves,— M. B. Wtnn." 



A FAITHFUL DOG. 



THE high-blooded dog is not the only one that shows at 

 limes intelligence and excites our admiration. Some 

 years ago. when employed as express messenger, I was on the 

 run through Wilton, in Maine. One evening in passing the 

 packages from the train a package fell between the rail and 

 the station. I called the attention of the agent to the fact, 

 and he intended to pick it up but forgot to do so. 



One of the section men owned a black cur dog which passed 

 over the track with him when on duty, which was only in 

 the day time. This animal belonged to no breed in particu- 

 lar. He was homely and rough. His coat was black, with 

 occasionally a white hair, and it stood up straight all over 

 him as if each hair was repelled from its neighbor by a bat- 

 tery. He was long-legged, long-bodied, and his ears and tail 

 were set ou high'. His eyes shone dimly through the hair. 

 If placed upon the bench he would be a drawing card for his 

 many faults. 1 



In moving about that evening this dog discovered the 

 package beside the trade. He knew it did not belong there 

 and comprehended the situation. He took charge of it, lay 

 down beside it and remained there until morning. A man 

 came along and tried to pick it up, but he forbade with a 

 low growl, and refused to give it up tuitil the agent came, 

 to whom he "checked out his run" and gave up the goods 

 with a knowing wag of his tail. In the night it had snowed 

 and his back was covered with snow, but the ground be- 

 neath him was dry, showing his faithful vigil. I praised 

 and patted the dog when the train passed in the morning, 

 and thereafter he met mc at the train with a wag of recog- 

 nition as much as to say, "I will look out for your goods." 



This was a common parcel of dry goods. How did this 

 dog know it was more valuable than a bunch of paper? 

 Does this not go to show that animals know much that we 

 do uot give them credit for, and that they reason ? 



Ebenecook. 



BEAGLES FOR BENCH AND FIELD. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I am gratified to observe that my short item upon "Beagles 

 for Work and Show," published in your issue of 14th inst., 

 has drawn out a most interesting note from another admirer 

 of the beagle. Now that there has opened up a discussion 

 upou this subject— interesting as it must be to every owner, 

 breeder and lover of the beagle— I sincerely hope, with Mr. 

 Clark, that we may hear from some of our well-known breed- 

 ers of beagles as to their experience in this direction. 



It is true that the columns of our kennel department have 

 contained less matter pertaining to our little gamesters than 

 their rightful position in the class of sporting dogs seems to 

 warrant. 1 firmly believe they are more susceptible to train- 

 ing, and better results can be obtained in the direction of 

 field work than from any other class of game dogs. It is 

 surprising how easily they can be taught to retrieve, answer 

 when called, give warning where rabbit has gone to burrow, 

 and many other as interesting acts. 



I am half convinced that from Mr. Clark's explanation 

 of the working of his beagles, taken in connection with the 

 closing portion of his interesting letter, viz., "that I like the 

 little dog best, only I want him to be able to last all day," 

 he entertains the same doubt as the writer, whether we pos- 

 sess the beagle— restricted under the present rules — as near 



ferfection as is possi ble. I would prefer the smaller size if 

 could obtain equally as satisfactory results, but my experi- 

 ence with a kennel 'of thirteen beagles directly contradicts 

 the theory. I find in hunting the largest species of rabbit 

 the. smaller beagle in a day's work finds it too "fast a pace," 

 and after two or three hours of work comes to heel. I can- 

 not blame the little fellows. In the spirit willing but in the 

 flesh weak— they do all that is in their power; they drive 

 their little machinery at as high a rate of speed as is possible, 

 but they are handicapped in not being able to generate as 

 much steam as their larger companions. With unequal 

 motive power it is impossible to perform equal amount of 

 labor. 



Mr. Clark's statement that show winners have been petted 

 too much and not given a chance to do as well as they might 

 do, strikes one nail squarly on the head, and confirms the 

 statement in my letter that beagles were being bred soley for 

 the bench without regard to their field requirements. The 

 fact that field work in no wise enters into their requirements 

 for bench winning has been responsible in a great measure for 

 the present ignorance as to what size and proportion we can 

 obtain best results with the beagle. If the bench winners of 

 '87 were compelled to go to the field and defend their laurels 

 how many of them would come to fully realize that it is a 

 somewhat different task winning glory on bench and in the 

 field. If there are qualities in a beagle that can only be per- 

 fected by careful as well as constant work and discipline, and 

 those qualities allowed to remain dormant, will the defect 

 not show itself in their progeny? If a beagle has even a fair 

 nose his scent can be encouraged to a sharp, keen one; he 

 may have a good voice, and yet it can be trained into a grand 

 and very deep one. Constant work will bring him out a 

 hunter, 'sure and as faithful as untiring. Now let us give 

 him the form and marks as required under present bench 

 ruling and leave out the qualities in their improved and 

 superior condition, and we have still a beagle, eligible to the 

 highest honors on the bench without a single consideration 

 in its favor toward making it a great breeding hound for the 

 field 



If more of our breeders would just give a small share of 

 their time to the field work of their beagles with a view of 

 improving in every possible way their qualities of endur- 

 ance and activity, they would be surprised at some of the 

 results obtained and be in position to give us the informa- 

 tion we have a right to expect from them. My experience 

 with beagles under 14Kim is a failure. I have now two in 

 my kennel whose blood, as traced by pedigree, is as good as 

 flows in the beagle breed, and upon which as much time has 

 been consumed as upon my larger hounds, with but one 

 result — they cannot stand the work. 



My best results have been obtained with four beagles in 

 my kennel whose sizes and proportions are very nearly the 

 same. They stand 17Mu. in height, with chests measuring 

 about ;28J. l iii., length of bodies and heads 24 to 25in. 



These beagles are wonderful stayers and by far the fastest 

 in kennel, which I believe is due to their great depth of chest 

 aud ribs well sprung out, while their loins and hindquart- 

 ers are well developed. These dogs are very hardy and pos- 

 sessed of great amount of bone and muscle. They seem ap- 

 parently never to tire and I have yet to see them shirk or 



desire to come to heel even on the fifth consecutive day of 

 hard solid work. It is for the one reason that my pleasure 

 in possessing beagles is for their work in the field, that I 

 have never given any attention to obtaining bench exhibit- 

 ors and I cannot, I find, combine under present laws both 

 qualities aud obtain a beagle that will do the work^ ^ 



A RABBIT HUNT BY MOONLIGHT. 



TT was one evening in the month of December; the air was 

 JL bitter cold and the moon shone bright. Jack S. and 

 Harry C. both of whom owned beagles, asked me to join 

 them' in a 'moonlight rabbit hunt. A young Irishman, fresh 

 from the Emerald Isle, accompanied us. Presently the ring- 

 ing music of the beagles announced that a rabbit had been 

 started. Placing ourselves along the edge of a thicket, in 

 which the dogs could be distinctly heard, we breathlessly 

 awaited the rabbit's approach. "Hark!" exclaimed Harry, 

 "I hear it coming; there, it has stopped to listen; now it is 

 approaching again. Be ready. Pat, get down off that fence, 

 and quit making such an infernal noise." The last injunc- 

 tion was given to the Irishman, who had clambered upon the 

 topmast rail of a worm fence, the better, I suppose, to see 

 the fun, or it might have been to avoid the contents of our 

 guns. The rabbit no sooner appeared in an open space than 

 a stream of fire belched forth from three guns. The noise 

 that accompanied the shooting was simply terrific. I really 

 think the country people for miles around must have thought 

 that a powder mill had burst. To the best of my knowledge, 

 that rabbit still roams at his own sweet will. We saw noth- 

 ing of him after the smoke had cleared away. 



"Confound the luck," says Jack, after he had recovered 

 somewhat from his astonishment; "that comes from not 

 chalking the ends of our guns. When I took aim, I could 

 not tell whether I was pointing at the rabbit or at that tree- 

 top yonder. Harry, just go through your clothes and see if 

 you can't find a piece of chalk." 



H.soon brought forth the desired article. We in turn chalked 

 the ends of our gun barrels and then proceeded to hunt up an- 

 other cotton tail,- In going across a field Pat surprised one 

 in a squat and as it bounded away it was neatly stopped by 

 Jack. The dogs soon gave tongue in a neighboring corn 

 field, so we hurried thither at once. Such a scampering to 

 cover the intervening space that separated us trom our 

 quarry. I was the first to get in a shot aud scored a miss. 

 Harry took him on the jump and laid him on his back We 

 started four rabbits in the cornfield and killed three. I 

 should say that they did the killing, because I missed every 

 time. With all my chalking I could not see ahead of my 

 gun when pointing it. It requires a great deal of practice 

 and this occasion was my first experience. My companion 

 chaffed me considerably; I felt somewhat annoyed, but ap- 

 peared to take it coolly. "Why, Dave, I don't believe you 

 could hit a flock of barndoors flying with the moon shining 

 on them; let's see you hit my hat." With these words he 

 shied his beaver into the air, and I, in a spirit of revenge, 

 brought the gun to my shoulder and fired. The hat was 

 picked up and the closest scrutiny failed to find a single 

 shot hole in it. I came to the conclusion right there that 

 as a moonlight gunner I was a complete failure and resolved 

 never to go on any such fool's errand again. Couldn't hit 

 a hat twenty paces away. Why Pat, who never had a gun 

 in his hands during the whole course of his existence, could 

 have done no worse. How consoling it was to hear Jack re- 

 mark, "Dave, I don't believe you have any shot in your 

 cartridges." "No shot! I am willing to swear that I put 

 an ounce of No. 6 in each one of them," exasperatedly re- 

 turned I. "Let's move on, it's getting too cold to stand 

 here." 



During the evening ten rabbits were found, seven of which 

 were killed. About 10 o'clock we took up our homeward 

 march. Pat was directed to go ahead and tell the folks at 

 home to have a blazing fire and lunch ready for us. He 

 hurried forward and disappeared over a hill. Before we 

 had reached the top we could hear him returning in great 

 haste, hallooing lustily. Pushing on we beheld him coming 

 toward us holding something in his hand. "Begorra, and 

 phat's this I've caught?" exclaimed he. "Phew! how the 

 dirty baste smells. I seen it squattin' anent the stone wall 

 and picked it up. Won't some of yees take it away from 

 me? Devil a bit do I want the nasty crature." There stood 

 Pat, as pitiable looking an object as I ever saw, still clinging 

 to his "catch." 



He had seen a skunk, and not being acquainted with its 

 chief characteristic, captured it. We gave him as wide a 

 berth as possible. "Drop that cussed thing and strike a bee 

 line for home," shouted Jack, "you'll know a polecat when 

 you see one, I'll bet." 



Throwing the skunk down he obeyed his employer's com- 

 mand with alacrity. We laughed until our sides fairly 

 ached. Verily it must have been a very green Irishman who 

 could mistake a polecat for a rabbit, even in the moonlight. 

 When we reached Jack's house we found Pat in the stable. 

 Other clothes were brought him, and his perfumed ones laid 

 aside for burial. "Indade, I thought it was a rabbit, but the 

 blessed minit I caught hold of it, sees I to rneself, Pat, sure, 

 yees made a mistake," explained he, when questioned on the 

 subject the next day. J. H. T. 



STERILITY IN BITCHES. 



THE facts that are being brought forward in connection 

 with the above subject are so serious as to make it quite 

 a question of the day among breeders; and if scientific in- 

 vestigations can do anything, such means cannot be applied 

 too quickly. About seven years ago there were general com- 

 plaints that an unusual number of bitches missed; one 

 huntsman asserting that they had done so in the ratio of six 

 out of nine among those under his charge. The very same 

 season it was found difficult to get mares in foal, and an 

 unusual number were barren. The following season, and 

 for some years, there was nothing particularly notable in 

 these sort of statistics ; but last year they were worse than 

 ever. The Duke of Beaufort, it was said, had fifteen or six- 

 teen couples of bitches that missed, the Fitzwilliam nine 

 couples, and the Atherstone, Oakley, Rufford, and other 

 kennels suffered more or less. It is now ascertained that 

 the spring of 1886 was just as disastrous among horses, 

 and that some of the stud farms devoted to blood stock had 

 the worst season ever known. One very large stud, perhaps 

 the largest in England, sent out thirty-two mares to various 

 stallions at a distance trom home, at a cost of over 2,000 sovs. 

 in fees, and the crop of foals from these has been only four- 

 teen. This year it has reached us both from studs and ken- 

 nels that the results will be still more deplorable, as it is 

 rumored that the Oakley have not a bitch in pup ; and an 

 owner of a stud has told us within the last few hours that 

 he has never experienced such a season for mares giving the 

 most unwelcome signs that they have yet to be in foal. 



The same features being apparent among two sets of ani- 

 mals of totally different natures must set people thinking 

 for a cause touching these disasters. The season some years 

 back that we have alluded to was put down by the stud 

 owners at the time to the quantity of rain that had fallen 

 during the previous year; but this could have been no rea- 

 son, to judge by what has been done in more recent times, as 

 there have been very dry seasons, hay and all provender has 

 been particularly well saved, and stock of all kinds has been 

 generally healthier. There must be some more direct atmos- 

 pheric influence, and the currents of excessive cold that have 

 disturbed our climate late in winter and early spring seems 

 the most probable cause of anything to be suggested. Will 

 the weather specialists think so, and can they define the cur- 

 rents of cold in a way to give some reasons for the effects we 

 are ascribing? 



To accept that our suggestion is correct, the object in the 

 future will be to find a remedy for one of nature's freaks; 

 and the two elements of air and water must be regarded as 

 the main points of attack. It requires no arguments to prove 

 that the changes in the condition of water are due to atmos- 

 pheric causes^ and animal life especially will drink and 

 breathe the same factor of health simultaneously. It will 

 be necessary as a precaution for the future to regulate tem- 

 porature, both in stabling and kennels set apart to accom- 

 modate breeding stock, and at the same time water must be 

 under the same sort of control. We feel convinced that this 

 will be the right track to follow, as from close inquiry we 

 find that the above epidemic, if we may call it so, has not 

 been noticeable among house pets, such as toy dogs, etc. , 

 but among all other sorts kept in outside kennels or allowed 

 to run about loose. Among foxhounds it has been specially 

 prevalent, and we have heard of it in cases of collies, setters 

 and fox-terriers. A six-year old collie bitch that had never 

 missed before was the victim of an accident in getting 

 loose, when she should have been closely guarded, and inr 

 that case fruitful impregnation was almost a certainty, but 

 it did uot prove so, aud ten out of thirteen fox-terrier bitches 

 have proved barren since January the first. These were 

 mostly kept in outside kennels with the usual kind of yards 

 for running about in. As a sign, too, that it is an ailment 

 attributable to the weather, there have been no complaints 

 from greyhound owners, and this maybe accounted for by 

 the fact that greyhounds are invariably kept in warm ken- 

 nels, and they are clothed at exercise in cold weather. 



It cannot be difficult to keep a kennel at one temperature, 

 or to have covered-in exercising grounds for pregnant bitches 

 under the same conditions. Whether full or partial pre- 

 cautions of this kind may be necessary remains to be proved, 

 as it may be simply the temperature of the sleeping houses 

 that has anything to do with it. For the correct temper- 

 ature of water there is the easiest of remedies, as various 

 contrivances are in existence to chill water to any temper- 

 ature, and at the South Coast Stud Farm (Lord de Roth- 

 shild's) one has been so fixed that all the troughs from which 

 the mares can drink are. filled with running water just tepid, 

 and so influenced by pipes in connection with a very small 

 fire. For foxhound kennels it would be the easiest thing 

 possible to have such a contrivance from the boiling house, 

 or it would be equally applicable to every sort of kennel by 

 the aid of the smallest saddle room fire. That some con- 

 sideration will have to be paid to this subject is clear enough, 

 as from all indications the same kind of late severe winters 

 will visit these shores for many years to come.— Kennel 

 •Gazette. 



WAS THE DOG MAD? 



HERE are two reports of the same occurrence. The Sum 

 and the Times are both on Park Row, the scene of the 

 excitement, and each presumably got its information at first 

 hand: 



From the Evening Sun. July 22. 



SOMEBODY'S PET DOG KILLED. 

 A poor little dog created a terrible amount of excitement 

 on Park Row, in front of the Post Office, this morning. He, 

 was a brown-eyed, amiable animal of the fox-terrier breed, 

 and the only thing that troubled him was to find his owner, 

 for he had evidently got lost. The dog ran up and down 

 looking at every one. ft met, apparently in the bope of find- 

 ing its master. Pretty soon the young lads began to notice, 

 it, and before long the cry of : 'mad dog" was raised. A 

 stalwart policeman from the corner of Beekman street ran 

 after the dog with his revolver in one hand and his club in 

 the other. He saw that there was no sign of madness in the 

 dog and put up his revolver, but made an effort to capture 

 it. The crowd, seeing the officer in full chase, became ex- 

 cited and so did the dog. The dog ran up and down, stumb- 

 ling between the feet of the pedestrians, until it seemed 

 almost crazed with terror. The man who switches the tracks 

 for the horse cars happened to be standing near where the 

 dog ran. He raised the iron bar with which he operates the 

 switch, and with one blow stretched poor doggie dead in the 

 street. ' For the next few hours the switchman was the hero 

 of the hour, and hundreds gazed on the poor little animal 

 and told each other how fortunate it was that no one had 

 been bitten by it. 



From the New TorTi Times, July 28, 



MAD DOG IN THE STREET. 



There was a mad dog in Park Row yesterday. It came 

 running up Broadway at 10:30 o'clock in the morning, with 

 a short, sharp, terrified yelp, so peculiar as to attract atten- 

 tion. A number of pedestrians on the crosswalk below the 

 Post Office heard the peculiar yelp and looked around to dis- 

 cover a gray aud black mongrel, a cross between a terrier 

 and a spitz, snapping at their heels. They jumped out of 

 his path with white faces, and the alarm being given the 

 brute was allowed a wide berth. It ran up Park Row snap- 

 ping at men here and there, and pursued by a crowd of yell- 

 ing boys throwing at it everything movable they could lay 

 hands upon. One little boy, an Italian match peddler, who 

 was directly in its path, put out his hand as the dog ran 

 toward him, and the cur snapped at it, sinking its sharp 

 teeth deeply in the flesh and causing a profuse hemorrhage. 

 Doors were slammed as the beast ran by, and whenever it 

 tried to run into a store or down a flight of basement stairs 

 it was blocked by somebody. Half way up the square it 

 turned and ran back toward the Post Office corner. As it 

 approached there Michael Bennett, the switchman of the 

 Fourth avenue line, stood in readiness and struck it a blow 

 on the head with an iron rod that crushed in its skull and 

 laid it limp and still on the pavement. Its body was pushed 

 into the gutter and remained there throughout the day. 



ST. PAUL DOG SHOW.— We have received the premium 

 list of the St. Paul and Minnesota Kennel Club for their 

 first dog show, to be held at St. Paul, Sept. 13 to 16. Cham- 

 pion prizes of $10, both for dogs and bitches, are offered in 

 the important classes, with 810 and §5 in the open and $5 and 

 S3 in the puppy classes. Six kennel prizes of $30 each, and 

 eight of $15 each are offered by the club. There are also 

 nearly one hundred special prizes. Entries close Sept. 1. For 

 premium lists and entry blanks, address W. G. Whitehead, 

 174 East Fourth street, St. Paul, Minn. 



KENNEL NOTES. 



Notes must be sent on prepared blanks, which are fur- 

 nished free on receipt of stamped and addressed envelope. 

 Sets of 200 of any one form, bound for retaining duplicates, 

 are sent for 30 cents. 



NAMES CLAIMED. 



$W Notes must be sent on the Prepared Blanks. 



Clifton's Burt, Clifton's Clioicc, Clifton's Dettie, Clifton's Eva, Clif- 

 ton's Fancy and Clifton's Girlecn. By Clifton Kennels, Jersey City, 

 N. J., for liver and white pointers, two dogs and four bitches, 

 whelped July 14, 1837, by Graphic out of Clover (King Bow— Dot). 



Clitton's Ah By Clifton Kennels, Jersey City, N. J„ for liver 

 and white ticked pointer dog, whelped July 1-i, 1S87, by Graphic 

 out of Clover (Kine Bow— Dot). 



Jew/ie Oho. By W. L. Dearborn. Dorchester, Mass., for black 

 cocker spaniel dog, whelped April 28. 1887, by Perrin's Shady (Obo 

 II.— Darkie) out of Judy Obo (Obo II.— Daisy Zulu). Wrongly 

 printed Junio last week. 



Nasoof Bergen, Luck of Naso, Royal Naso, Gem <>f Naso, Beau- 

 fort Naso, Lady Nam, Belle of Naso and Beauty Naso. By Floyd 

 vail, Jersey City, 1ST. J., for liver and white, pointers, five dogs and 

 three bitches, whelped July 25, 1887, by Naso of Devonshire (Nick 

 of Naso— Devonshire Queen, A.K.R. 3137) out of Lady Isabella 

 (Beaufort— Fanny Turner). 



